"You want to find this body and eat it?" I pondered.
Old Gong eats corpse ghosts, eats humans, and can obtain certain memories and abilities from them. However, before this, Old Gong had eaten too much and too randomly, causing problems with himself. Only with the help of the sutras of Akeno Lama, he was able to eliminate the impact. Afterwards, this sutra had been subtly influencing Old Gong gradually. It made him adhere to a certain level of ethics and did not deviate from the right path.
Without frequent consumption, Old Gong would not undergo any mutation. The presence of the sutra also indirectly provided Old Gong with a protective shield, making it difficult for his soul and essence to be damaged.
Old Gong clearly realized some new things and decided to ask for help willingly.
For this long time, it's always been Old Gong helping me. He seems to have little demand.
So, I replied, "You don't often have ideas, so of course I'll help you see it through."
Before the words had finished, I added, "However, this corpse was taken away by Ding Rui Pu. If we want to eat him, we need to deal with Ding Rui Pu first. We came here for nothing."
"How can it be considered a wasted trip?" The old man, who had been studying Dao for too long, had become too stubborn. Old Gong vigorously shook his head and said, "I was wrong about one thing before. She definitely didn't come just for the sake of controlling ghosts."
"Hmm?" I was indeed puzzled.
Old Gong initially posed the question to himself, but now he spoke with certainty!
"It was the women first," I said, having made the assumption based on my initial observation that she came here for the ghost control technique. Maybe I should have said it more clearly. The woman is deep and mysterious. She has two goals, one is to control ghosts, and the other is to inherit the techniques and methods of building tombs here. She pretends she wants the latter, using the former to guide Xiyang resident."
"When she got here, she found that there was only the control method for ghosts, but nothing else she wanted. So she stopped pretending, which led to everyone here dying. It's not like she did it herself; it was her followers who did it, and even possibly by manipulating the people of Xiyang Residence into accidentally triggering a mechanism."
"Grandpa, do you remember anything on the wall paintings? Something under the coffin?" Old Gong asked me again.
The scene in my mind flashed back, a slight chill ran through my heart, I said: "The suspended coffin bottom, hanging the ghost things like the let channel that you mentioned."
"Yes, the ghost things hang from the bottom of the coffin. This coffin does not touch the sky above or the ground below, floating in the middle, and the person in it still doesn't know what kind of dangerous creature it is. Look at these coffins here; their grandeur is far inferior." Old Gong spoke more seriously, muttering: "I have a bold idea. The tomb passage here and this graveyard were built later. The master is indeed the person in this coffin, who has a basic understanding of the Burying Shadow Gazing Mountain technique and has managed to overlay his own grave with that of some earlier ancestor."
"Perhaps, he was a disciple or a child, and the real master should be the tomb passage down there. The suspended coffin must be in that tomb chamber. Entering means facing corpse poison and mechanisms. No outsiders can enter!"
Old Gong's words were even more precise and valuable, saying: "Ding Rui Pu didn't leave and stayed here because she dug the grave in front of her, knowing that the true treasure was below. She is not satisfied with this."
Old Gong's analysis made me even more startled.
In the past, Old Gong's ability to infer was already very strong. It seemed that it had only been the tip of the iceberg. Now this is what a true Yin and Yang Master should have in terms of cunning and calculation.
Furthermore, his words were not deliberately hidden. All the others outside the small room heard him clearly.
"What do you plan to do?" I spoke with certainty and seriousness.
Old Gong only provided the analysis, without mentioning the purpose or the methods.
"What to do... That's the only way, we cannot directly enter the tomb passage below. Although you are not afraid of poison, others are, and the woman wants the treasure here. She has had at least ten years of planning and must have gathered a lot of information."
"First, kill her. While we're at it, let's find Old Qin's head as well. She likes to manipulate others to do her bidding and then steal the fruits of their labor. I'll pick a peach for Old Gong too."
"After all, Old Fei is also boiling with anger right now!" While Old Gong spoke in a melodious and rhythmic manner, he looked at Fei House.
"So, we're going out?" Xu Jin murmured.
"Then why not spend the New Year's here?" Old Gong shrugged his thin shoulders.
"Um, how can we celebrate New Year's here? There's no wine, no meat, and no women." Xu Jin touched his head and smiled foolishly: "Old Gong, you are a ghost. It's suitable for you, but we don't fit."
Old Gong: "..."
...
We didn't leave immediately. Fei House asked for Old Gong's guidance, and his subordinates were allowed to drag all the bodies in the tomb chamber to the main tomb chamber at the front for display.
We didn't enter the other several tomb passages either. Fei House asked Old Gong if there might be something to gain from within.
Old Gong didn't say it nicely, "All fake, seven real. The key tombs are already open. The other places are just decoys. If you go inside, you will die."
Fei House finally gave up the idea of going to check it out.
After a brief discussion on the next course of action, Old Gong suggested that we first return to the bamboo grove we had visited earlier. Since Ding Rui Pu's people had arrived before us, we should see how many there are. If there are too many, we would directly go to Yun Du County and hit at Ding Rui Pu's lair. If there are few, we would make a bigger deal of it, causing them to send more people, effectively playing into their hands.
Of course, if Ding Rui Pu is here as well, that would be much easier. We should take care of the king first, kill her directly.
This is very simple and straightforward, Chang Xin nodded vigorously in agreement, and Liang Jieshi and the others also had some morale, as if they finally had a place where they could be useful.
But I thought of a detail: the ghost in the bamboo grove that had been locked onto me.
The threat of the ghost creature wasn't that strong, but the zombie ghost was definitely more difficult to deal with.
Where did that zombie ghost come from? Was it the skeleton in the tomb chamber?
Even though it wasn't the true master, it was definitely not something simple.
Also, Old Gong said that this tomb might have been built by the disciples and successors of the master. Overlooking previous tombs, it is possible that his purpose is to protect them.
Like Old Gong, a veteran with rich experience, might initially mistake some things.
Therefore, the purpose of this tomb chamber was to deceive a master into falling for the trap and then kill him inside?
Just saying, Ding Rui Pu and the previous Xiyang Resident came here to dispel the dangers here?
It was just my own guess, and it's not relevant to this trip anymore, so I didn't bring it up.
The group walked out.
When they arrived at the exit cave of the outer tomb passage, the sunlight was still bright and glaring. Old Gong jumped back into the night pot first.
A quick glance showed that there was nothing else at the entrance of the cave, only that empty shell-like corpse.
It seemed that after we went in, those bugs lost their target and did not continue climbing up or retreat into the water.
At this time, the Ma Lu suddenly walked forward and muttered, "Bring down this senior. Although he's just a skeleton now, being exposed to the sun and rain every day doesn't look right."
Initially, everyone felt nothing, and Old Gong had completely immersed himself in the night pot.
Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of a detail out of the corner of my eye; the body should have had a sense of translucence. The body was hollowed out, and when the sunlight shone on it, it must have been thin. But now it seemed almost solid, especially in the mouth that was open wide, where something seemed to be moving slightly!
"Don't go over there!" I shouted with a booming voice, echoing in the tomb passage.
"Ah?" Ma Lu turned his head, he was already at the edge of the cave entrance, one hand extending sideways, holding a piece of money sword, as if he were going to touch the corpse.
"Come back!" I commanded more sternly.
